I watched a television pastor preach about hope this morning. What he said was confusing, as he was connecting hope to a promise from Yahweh (who he called “God”). The pastor spoke of Abram and Sarai being old in years, thus Sarai was beyond child-bearing capability. He said, "Because God had promised them children, they had hope, which was based on faith.”
As he spoke, it dawned upon me the truth of hope. I saw it in a new light I had not seen before.
My wife saw hope as one of those important words that needed to be engraved on a bracelet she hinted she wanted (which I obediently bought and gave to her). Hope was along with Love and Faith.
All three are vastly misunderstood; but I will stick just to hope for now.
The pastor said there are two kinds of hope, one which is human, where people hope for things to come; but the other is God’s promise, which means hope is assured. Because it is a divine promise, it is not up to those with spiritual hope to doubt the promise will be delivered. The pastor said we Christians should know Jesus will come some day and that is God’s promise, so hope means not questioning that future.
To me, what he said is the one definition of hope right out of a dictionary. Hope means, “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” That is not what divine Hope is.
What I was led to ponder was the Scripture lesson of Jesus healing the ten lepers. (Found in Luke 17:11-19)
Those ten lepers came to Jesus as he traveled through the land between Galilee and Samaria. Those ten lepers came to Jesus because they held hope to be cured of their leprosy. Their Hope was Jesus; because someone who had been cured of leprosy by Jesus told them he was their hope.
Their human hope led them to seek Jesus, find him, and then respectfully request he make their hope be fulfilled. Jesus told them all, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And, they did as Jesus commanded.
Then, one of the ten who had been healed of leprosy returned, “praising God in a loud voice.” “He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.” Then, we learn this one healed leper was a Samaritan.
When Jesus then said to the healed Samaritan, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” the point has to be grasped that Jesus healed nobody. Yahweh healed them. When the Samaritan that was healed of leprosy came and fell at the feet of Jesus, praising Yahweh loudly, while thanking Jesus, this needs to be deeply understood, relative to Hope.
Jesus is the Hope of Yahweh. To come to Jesus with hope of healing, the metaphor of leprosy is the sin all human beings have covering their bodies of flesh. When Jesus told the ten lepers, “Go show yourselves to the priests,” the Greek word heautous means “yourselves," but such a word needs to be read as “your souls.” Jesus did not send ten lepers to show priests they were cured of leprosy, so the priests could expect to see them in synagogue the following Sabbath. No. Jesus sent them to show purified souls no longer have human hope, they are the Hope of Jesus reborn within them.
That says the purpose of being a priest is to be just like Jesus, a soul married to Yahweh, therefore the Hope the hopeful come to see for healing of sins. The priests were then the lepers figuratively, so the purified souls of the lepers became the priests made available to sinners. They were sent as Jesus resurrected within each of their souls. As those having the High Priest within their temples of flesh, they went to the priests as their Hope for the Salvation of their souls.
Now, the lepers knew they were forbidden from touching anyone, especially a Jew (and one assumes nine of the lepers were Jews, with the other being one of the lost Israelites, to whom Jesus was sent to offer Hope). The ten then are said to have “called out in a loud voice,” while standing “at a distance.” The words translated as “loud voice” are ēran phōnēn, which better say, “raised up voice.” That says each prayed sincerely, so their prayers were lifted up to Yahweh.
To stand at a distance means to always be disconnected from Jesus, therefore also from Yahweh. When the one healed leper “came back and fell at the feet of Jesus,” this symbolically says he submitted his own soul to allow Jesus to become his Lord and Master. When Jesus asked where were the other nine, they had not yet fully submitted their souls to Yahweh, hiding their faces so they could resurrect as each a Son of man. Jesus was the Hope that a purified soul would receive within his or her soul, once committed to total subjection to be led by Jesus.
When Jesus then told the Samaritan healed of his leprous sins, “ Rise and go; your faith has made you well,” to tell him to “rise” means to become spiritually elevated, as Jesus reborn. To “go” meant to enter into ministry, as the Hope sought by those hoping for Salvation of their sinful souls. The statement that his soul had become possessed divinely, where “your faith” is translated, the Greek written literally says “this faithfulness of you,” where sou is the Genitive case, showing possession.
The Samaritan leper had no faith prior. He had hope, based on what he had heard told to him. He believed what he was told, so he had hope Jesus could heal him also. It was his turning his “face” to the ground,” at "the feet of Jesus” that made his soul be possessed divinely. As such, “this faithfulness of you” said his soul now knew the soul of Jesus personally. This was because two souls had become one, in a cleansed body of flesh. Yahweh created His Son as a "Yahweh elohim," to join with lost souls. The name "Jesus" means "YAH Saves."
This says the Samaritan healed of leprosy knew Jesus personally, as his inner Lord and Savior, making his body of flesh be resurrected as the Son of Yahweh in the form of a man. That Hope within “made him well,” where the actual Greek written says, “has saved your soul.”
This becomes what I had not seen before. Hope is being reborn as Jesus in the flesh. To hold human hope means to have been told Jesus can heal you of your sins. All you have to do then is seek him; and, when you find him, then pray sincerely for Salvation. Prayers are heard by Yahweh; and, Yahweh alone saves souls. That Salvation comes into those whose hope had them act from their beliefs. YAHweh Saves souls by sending His Son's soul to enter a purified soul and lead it forevermore in faith, away from sin.
One’s face becomes where his Word speaks, while one has ceased being the source of one’s opinions and stories. One speaks the truth of the Word, which those holding human hope need to have explained to them. This means hope leads one to seek Jesus, who must be resurrected in new cleansed flesh, to become the answer that is Hope. By submitting fully to Yahweh, as the one through whom Yahweh Saves souls, makes one become the Hope for the world.
The error of the pastor’s words are echoed by all Christian priests and ministers. Those who say Jesus will come again some day are lepers standing far away from Jesus. They do not know Jesus; thus, they have no faith and offer no Hope. Few are being told to “rise” and “go,” because that would put the vast majority of those priests out of work.
When Jesus sent out his disciples in ministry in his name, he sent Hope among the Jews; so, they did not have to seek him. Those pairs preached the truth of the Word to those who sought to know the truth. However, not everyone wants to be Saved. Hope is to hope like the saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make the horse drink."
Refusing to drink in the truth of the Word and find Salvation stands before one not looking like anyone worthy of belief, means to turn away from Yahweh. That is why Jesus told those who would "go" into ministry as him (just not looking like him) and find rejection, to tell them, The kingdom of God has come near." They were to then kick the dust off their sandals, taking nothing material away from that place of rejection. The "kingdom of God" is within, in one's souls, where the soul of Jesus must be resurrected, so one in the flesh can become Hope for Salvation.
Side Note: Of the ten lepers who held "hope" that Jesus could save them - wash away their sins and make them cleansed - ALL experienced their prayer of "hope" answered. That cleansing was the Spirit of Yahweh poured out upon them ALL, as Spiritual Baptism that purified the souls of ALL ten. The one (a Samaritan) who came back reflects upon the individuality of each "hopeful" soul being cleansed Spiritually by Yahweh. ALL ten were, in essence, Samaritans, as those rejected by a self-righteous religion, which offered no "hope" of salvation; and, certainly the Jews of the Temple of stone had no Jesus "Hope" within them. So, ALL ten did as the one example did, rejoicing at having become Anointed by Yahweh (made a Christ), who then were no longer whoever they were before, as ALL became Jesus reborn. ALL became Hope in the flesh, which is what a Saint or Apostle in the name of Jesus is.